Inspiration

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In Italy, forecasters say the current heatwave could turn out to be the most intense in 15 years, with temperatures around eight degrees above the seasonal average, 38.9 °C in Turin and up to 30 °C in the Alps at an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). In addition, a recent study, released on June 19th in the journal Nature Climate Change, warned that deadly heatwaves will become more and more common around the world even if the rise in temperatures is capped at 2.0 °C as targeted by the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

On the left our Resilience Specialist, Enrico Ponte, presenting the analysis and on the right the validation process of the analysis developed through a participatory process

Under these conditions, on June 21st GeoAdaptive presented the first results of UHI analysis developed for the Municipality of Torino as part of the Life project, DERRIS. The analysis has combined satellite-derived thermal data with long-term historical temperature data (almost 300 years) collected by the Societa’ Meteoroligica Italiana, lead by Luca Mercalli, to determinate the most intense heat waves. The results have demonstrated the impact of this phenomena particularly in the areas close to the industrial districts and in the areas where elderly population lives. However, the project also presented a positive result. As recently demonstrated by different international research, the elevated percentage of urban vegetation in the city helps to mitigate the impact of this phenomenon, providing a first clear asset of investment for the municipality. Other potential measures will be evaluated under a mainstreaming process that will be developed during the summer. The results of this process, together with the inputs of other experts, will be integrated to define the Adaptation Strategy that will be presented to the Municipality of Torino by the beginning of November.

The necessity to create long-lasting objectives addressing inequality is emphasized throughout the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This implies that income growth is not the only important measure for this goal. The roles of infrastructure, wage, social protection policies, and opportunities are noted as key contributors to this goal of increased equality. By measuring and quantifying inequality in GeoAdaptive, we understand how well programs or policies promote social justice and how these strategies might be supported by accessibility to infrastructure to reduce inequality and improve social development.